Tuesday Tutorial: Distress Stain on Metal

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Today I am sharing two techniques for changing up metal embellishments.

Back in July I shared my 12 Halloweens tag book. One of the things that I did on this book was to play with different ways to add color to metal embellishments. I thought for today’s tutorial it would be fun to go back and show in more detail how I did that. Today I am sharing how I added Distress Stain to the metal Ornate Plate shown above.

Don’t forget, you can always click on each photo for a larger view.

Begin with a metal embellishment on Craft Sheet.

Tap the surface with a pigment ink pad. I like using Ranger’s Snow Cap Pigment Ink Pad because the white gives me a nice “clean slate” that will keep whatever color I apply over it true to color.

Use a heat gun to dry the ink on the metal.

When it is dry it will have a very matte finish. If you wanted just the matte color that the ink creates, you could use any color here and then seal it (described below).

Dab Distress Stain onto the metal. I like apply it so that it is blotty looking, leaving some white showing but you could apply it so that the coverage is more solid and even.

Dry the stain with a heat gun.

As you dry it, the stain will pretty much stay where and how you applied it.

To seal the piece with a clear coat, dab over the surface with clear embossing ink.

Place the piece in an embossing powder tray. Cover it with clear embossing powder. I use regular powder for this, but you could use UTEE.

Remove the piece from the tray and place it back on the craft sheet.

Heat the metal piece until the clear embossing powder is melted. Keep in mind that the metal piece will be hot so let it sit and cool before picking it up.

At the heating stage you can actually change the look of the ink and stain a bit depending on how long you heat the metal. On the plate on the finished book, the white ink layer and stain remained solid under the embossing powder. On this example, I heated it much longer which caused the white ink and stain to kind of break apart slightly under the clear coat. The end result is a bit more distressed looking, almost like crazing. If you try this technique, you may experiment a bit with the heating and see what kind of variances you can achieve. (You may want to click on this image to see more detail.)

Crazed or solid, I think the end effect is really cool and adds a fun touch of color to your project.

I like the finished result. I followed Jess’s technique with the Melting Pot and used Distress Embossing Powders in Shabby Shutters, Antique Linen, and Broken China along with Ranger’s Enchanted Gold and UTEE. I used a small bead reamer to clean out any open spaces that got filled with melted powders. (By the way, bead reamers are awesome tools to have in the studio. They are super fine round metal files found in the beading section. I picked up a set of 4 at Joann’s for under $4.00.) The finished result really reminds me of an old piece of metal that has aged in the weather or maybe been salvaged from the sea.

Comments

ooowww, so much fun to be had. I love to alter the original look of things, at least most of the time, and this gives me one more outlet. I haven’t played with Tim’s stains yet, I really need to get some purchased and start playing.

Fantastic techniques,Tammy! I have been wanting to start working with Tim’s foil tapes and sheets – making a wall hanging I saw on Linda Cain’s blog. This gives me some perfect embellishments to adorn it. Thanks again!

Hello Tammy
i always love a tutorial on how to alter metal.
The ornaments look sooo cool ! Love the old look you can create with this techniques.
I will have a look at the tutorial of the other lady cause I also like the result you had with her technique !
greetings from belgium
inge

Thanks for this. I can’t wait to try it. I love UTEE but have never used it like this. I have only dipped things in the UTEE and I always feel kinda witchy when I play with it–Put something in the pot and pull out something completely transformed. he he. This method takes the witchy factor out of it. Don’t know if thats good or bad.